Cornerback · Pittsburgh Steelers

Joey Porter Jr.

No. 24 · 4th season

A mobility workout. A back that didn't cooperate. Now Joey Porter Jr. is on the list.

It wasn't a collision or a training-camp tackle that did it. It was a workout meant to keep him moving — and his back had other ideas.

Joey Porter Jr. came into this offseason with a lot riding on him. The Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback had been one of the more closely watched young defenders in the league, and this was supposed to be the stretch where he built on that.

Instead, he aggravated his back during a team mobility session and was placed on the physically-unable-to-perform list — a designation that sidelines a player before they can even start earning reps with the group. It is early, and the injury is characterized as an aggravation rather than a fresh one, which tells you this back has been a conversation before.

What it costs him right now is time with the team — practices, installation, the kind of early work that builds chemistry before the games begin. For a cornerback, whose job is almost entirely reactive and instinctive, those reps matter more than the calendar suggests.

How long he's away from the field is the only question left open. The workout that put him here was supposed to help.

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